Dragon School
by Absi B
Summary: Modern- day HTTYD. Hiccup's the new student at Dragon School. One friend, but many more enemies, and it's only his first year. How will Thorn and Hiccup survive the year? In his second year, everything has changed. All that Hiccup thought would stay the same hasn't- he's got to adapt to a new life. A new beginning.
1. New Arrival

**This is my first ever HTTYD fanfic, and I hope you like it!**

**Please read and review, hopefully there should be an update soon if I get some positive feedback...**

**Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters from HTTYD mentioned here, they all belong to Dreamworks. The only characters I own are the ones not from HTTYD (i.e. Thorn and the teachers).**

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New Arrival

The classroom was as it usually was at the start of a new year- noisy, and full of boisterous people who all thought they were the best in the room. As soon as the teacher walked in, the atmosphere changed. Kids put away their phones, quietly spat out the gum they were chewing, adjusted their clothes to make sure they fit with school regulations, and hurried to their desks. Standing to attention, twenty nine pairs of eyes watched the teacher walk to the front of the class. Although, it was probably more likely that most of those twenty nine pairs of eyes were watching the other person meekly following the teacher. It was a boy, of below average height. He had floppy reddish- brown hair and wide eyes the colour of an evergreen forest. His clothes were rough and utilitarian- pale green shirt, and loose brown trousers flapping over a pair of scuffed trainers. Nearer the back of the class, all the rest of the boys were smirking and silently sniggering. The boy was also very scrawny. He looked like he would break with the slightest impact. Most of the boys already had him pegged down as an easy target, one who wouldn't put up much of a fight.

The teacher addressed the class.

"Good morning, class. I hope you all had a nice summer, but now you have to get your brains back in gear for the start of the year. I would also like to introduce you all to Hiccup. He didn't have such a great summer, but I hope this year will more than make up for it. Would you like to say a few words about yourself, Hiccup?"

At this, the teacher stepped away, leaving the small boy on his own in front of some of the toughest kids in the county.

"Um… Hi, my name is Hiccup, and… I like to… draw. And build things."

Most of the class laughed at this, but one girl stayed silent, her eyes, one brown, one blue, regarding him. His piece said, Hiccup picked up his bag, a leather satchel that looked to be about fifty years old with the school's logo of a dragon curling within a circle on it, and walked silently over to the girl. He took a seat next to her, as the teacher started calling the register.

"What's your name?" Hiccup whispered out of the side of his mouth.

"Thorn. Nice to meet you, Hiccup."

Her mismatched eyes were set below a mass of unruly black hair, always seeming to try and worm itself off her scalp. She was not well liked in the school- her well- worn, unfashionable clothes and strange demeanour saw to that. Her small frame and slim body also picked her out as an easy target. She might as well have had one drawn right on the middle of her forehead. The bullies sniffed her out within ten seconds of meeting her, and then the torment began. For most of her time at school, she never had a single friend. Every lunchtime she would sit on her own in the corner and read a book, or write. She worked hard in class, and always tried to do as she was told. Thorn was an outcast.

As the teacher read out the names, the students duly answering them, the two outcasts sat together in silence.

"Rose?"

"Yes, miss." Thorn politely answered.

"But… I thought your name was Thorn?" said Hiccup.

"It is. It's my last name. I hate Rose, it's too… flowery. Everyone else gets names that make them sound tough, except me. So, I choose to use my surname instead."

"Oh." The short conversation over, both of them sat awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. The teacher finished the register, and walked over to Hiccup.

"Here's your timetable. I see you've made a friend already. Why don't you show Hiccup round today, and help him find his lessons, Rose?"

"Yes, miss," Thorn replied with a sigh. Hiccup's face held a slight frown for a moment, not sure whether Thorn was unhappy with the assignment, or with the teacher calling her Rose.

When the clock ticked round to the end of registration, everybody quickly gathered up their things and scrambled for the door. Everybody, that is, except Thorn and Hiccup. The first lesson of their new year was P.E. For all the bullies, the best lesson available to beat up the scrawny nerds. For the weaker kids, it was a living hell. Dragging their feet, Thorn showed Hiccup to the changing rooms, both going their separate ways to change. Ten minutes later the class were gathered in the gym, the teacher walking in front of them, steely grey eyes missing nothing.

"WHERE ARE YOUR GYM CLOTHES?" bellowed the teacher, a giant hulk of a man called Mr Jones. His only volume when talking to a student was eleven. The unfortunate student on the receiving end of this question was Hiccup, standing there wearing the same clothes he had been wearing in registration. Since he had only been in possession of his timetable for about twenty minutes, he didn't know about the lessons he was meant to be having.

"Um… I don't have any. I'm new… and I didn't know about my timetable before today…" Hiccup rambled on, shrinking down smaller and smaller as Mr Jones leaned in closer and closer, his musty, sweaty smell almost overwhelming him.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT EXCUSES! NOW, GIVE ME ONE HUNDRED PRESS UPS!" Trembling, Hiccup began to lower himself to the ground, when he was stopped by another bout of yelling.

"No, not here. IN THE CORNER! I still have to continue my lesson for the good students. Now, SCRAM!"

Hiccup could not have made it to the corner any faster. He visibly sagged, then dropped to the ground and began attempting press ups. Unfortunately, since his arms lacked muscle, the task was almost impossible. After a couple of Hiccup's pitiful press ups, Mr Jones lost interest and addressed the rest of the class, or rather, his favourite student, Snotlout.

"Now, I think we should start the year with an excellent team building exercise. Dodgeball! Right, Snotlout, you'll be captain of one team. Fishlegs, you're captain of the other team. Snotlout, first choice!"

The two team captains started choosing players for their team, quickly at first as they just picked their friends, but after a while all that was left were the people nobody wanted. Thorn ended up on Fishlegs' team, just like she thought she would. Fishlegs was a hard worker and a bit strange too, but he was huge, so he mainly got left alone. Snotlout wouldn't choose her over a bucket of puke for his team. Finally, all the teams were chosen, and the game began.

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**Hope you enjoyed the first instalment!**

**I know dodgeball is quite overused (to be honest I've never played- it's not a British thing really), but I thought, oh well!**

**If you don't want to read about the dodgeball game, I'd suggest skipping ahead to the end of chapter 3/ beginning of 4- this is where the most important start of the story begins.**

**P.S. I'm going to need some names for other characters (mainly guys), so any suggestions are welcomed. If I choose your name I will give you credit for it at the end of the chapter in which it is first used, if that's an incentive to think up tough names for characters!**

**Absi B**


	2. The Game

**A second chapter already! Sorry my chapters are so short, I'm not really used to writing chapters of an epic length...**

**Hopefully more updates soon, although I go back to school next week, so they probably won't be as fast as this one...  
Enjoy!**

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The Game

Children yelled; dodgeballs flew; pandemonium reigned. Thorn bobbed desperately around, trying to avoid the deadly looking projectiles coming her way. Snotlout had a special hatred of her, so she was the one he always went for first. As soon as the whistle had blown, he had yelled, "FIRE!" and the dodgeballs in the hands of ten of his team had flown straight at Thorn's head. Luckily, although she was not strong, she was agile, and lived to last another round. Getting her own back, she picked up one of the dodgeballs and threw it as hard as she could (not very) towards the opponents, wishing that she was the one doing press-ups in the corner and Hiccup was here instead. Shooting a quick glance at the corner, she could see that Hiccup was still trying to complete the press-ups. Taking a longer look, she saw how he raised himself up on trembling arms, then collapsed to the floor, only to repeat the process with a pained look on his face.

At last the game was over. Thorn got up from the bench she was sitting on (she had been knocked out a few minutes from the end, an impressive performance from anyone) and walked over to the corner, where Hiccup was still doing press-ups.

"You've been doing that for an hour. Are you seriously telling me that you haven't done a hundred yet?"

"Eighty eight…" Hiccup managed to gasp as he hit the gym floor and all the air left his lungs with a _whoomph.  
_  
"Get up and pretend that was the last one. Come on!" She helped Hiccup get shakily to his feet, and guided him towards the door.

"Get in there; I'll meet you outside in ten. Break is always the best time to get bullied; we better go hide."

Hiccup didn't have to change, but he spent ten minutes in the changing room anyway. His face, usually pale, was bright red, and he was still breathing hard. The muscles in his arms and legs screamed at him, and he knew that soon he would be very stiff. Sweat soaked his shirt and trousers, and, not for the first time, Hiccup wished that he had some other clothes to change into. For each of the ten minutes Hiccup sat there, Snotlout and his cronies mercilessly taunted him.

"Hey there, Hiccup. So weak he can't even do a press up, guys. And where did you get your fashion sense from? The moon? Mars?" Laughing broke out among the crowd of boys in the changing room. At this, Hiccup got up, or at least tried to. He made it to his feet, but only for a second before his legs no longer wanted to support him, and he collapsed right back onto the bench. Learning his lesson, the next time he used a handrail for support, making his way to the door like a frail man, all shuffling and slow. When he finally made it to the door, he opened it, only to be greeted by a fist in the face. Hiccup fell, hard, onto the floor of the changing rooms, but nobody cared enough to help him.

When he awoke again after a few minutes, the changing room was empty and he could hear somebody pacing outside the door. Pulling himself back onto his feet, he hid behind the door as he opened it this time, not wanting to get his face in the way of anybody's fists. Peeking round the corner of the door, he relaxed as he saw Thorn standing there, with a face like thunder.

"I said ten minutes? Where have you been? Congratulations, we are now officially late for second period."

"Sorry," Hiccup said, sidling out from behind the door, " I got a bit… held up… why are you staring at me like that?" He broke off as he saw Thorn's new expression; her face seemed as changeable as a chameleon's.

"What happened?" she asked flatly.

"Um… well, there was this door," he gestured to the door, "and, I opened it, and, well, sort of walked into somebody…"

"Hard enough that you got blood all over your face and were knocked out?" Her face was full of scepticism.

"It's funny, you know, because your face looks exactly like what would happen if you walked into somebody's fist. Are you sure that's not what happened?"

"Yes, I'm perfectly sure. Can we please get to the next lesson?" Their next lesson was Technology, a subject Hiccup was looking forward to. Thorn led Hiccup to the workshop, and watched as his face lit up at the sight of all the machines and tools and things people had created lining the walls. She also watched as his face fell at the sight of twenty eight jeering kids, and the stern- faced teacher who didn't seem to approve of the fact that they were both ten minutes late.

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**Sorry it's such a short one, but I like leaving cliffhangers!  
Please review, I don't mind criticisms.**

**I'm also looking for names for teachers. Second names only is fine, but if I use one of your suggestions I will give you credit for it.**

**Absi B**


	3. Inventions

**Three days, three chapters. Unfortunately, it won't always be this fast! **

**Sorry about all the technology and science stuff in here, I am a bit of a science geek!**

**As always, please read and review, and I don't own any of the HTTYD characters. The only one I own is Thorn. **

**Enjoy!**

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Inventions

The technology workshop had eight tables. Seven of them were square tables for four people. The final table, right in front of the teacher's desk (and so predictably empty), was designed for two people. Since they were so late, Thorn and Hiccup had to take the last two seats. The walls of the workshop were lined with projects. Some of the younger students had created clocks from acrylic, or jewellery by casting metal into moulds. Older students created radios, speakers, and there was even a go kart in one corner, helmet perched on top, just begging to be driven. Wood and metal shavings littered most of the surfaces and machines. There were machines everywhere. They lined every wall, and there were more along the workbenches- soldering irons, laser cutters, lathes, drills. This room was Hiccup's dream room. He wished that all the classes could be like this one.

"Right, class. This year we will be making desk tidies." Everybody groaned, including Hiccup. He thought that he would have been able to make something more exciting than a simple _desk tidy_. Mr Woods started handing out sheets of paper, rulers and set squares.

"First of all, I want you to sketch out a few simple ideas onto paper. Then, use the set square and ruler to create a more accurate drawing. Don't forget to include measurements and materials you will be using!" The sound of pencil cases being unzipped filled the room; next a clattering of pencils as everybody dug around for the right pencil; finally, scratching and scraping as people wearily began to sketch ideas, or shifted their stool around on the floor. Hiccup's hand moved quickly, more than once jogging Thorn, who shot him evil looks.

"Why do you have to be left- handed?" she asked, evidently annoyed. In her mind a little voice said, _get rid of this guy before you're in too deep. You can't go on being friends with him for long._

"It's not my fault. My parents are left handed, and they obviously gave it to me. Besides, left handed people are said to be more creative and better at art." Hiccup replied huffily, then returned to his sketches, drawing even more vigorously than before.

Ten minutes later, Hiccup put down his pencil and looked over his designs. Thorn, who was still trying to think up a half- decent idea, stopped and glanced at his designs. Well, glanced at first, because the next time she looked it was a full on stare, gazing almost in wonder at Hiccup's drawings. The first idea looked impossibly complex, with hinges and boxes and tens of tiny sections for different items of stationery. The second had levers, lights and buttons, and some sort of locking mechanism. The third idea looked a bit like a long snake with compartments sticking out at every angle. Each sketch was brilliantly drawn, and annotated to a ridiculous level of detail.

"You know, we do have to make these, not just draw them." She said, a frown on her face.

"Oh, yeah," Hiccup said breezily, "They shouldn't be too hard to make." Turning back to his work, he picked up the set square and asked Mr Woods for another sheet of paper. A hushed silence fell over the room. Somebody had finished that quickly? Suddenly the room was filled with the frenzied scribbling and sketching of the other students as they too tried to finish their designs. Thorn just sat there and continued to stare at the drawings. They looked so hard to make, and Hiccup was saying it would be like taking candy from a baby. Mr Woods came over to their desk carrying another sheet of paper, and stood behind the pair admiring their work.

"Well, those designs certainly look… interesting. Remember, you will have to make these before Christmas, so you might want to think about… simplifying your designs. Rose, you might want to think less and draw more."

"I'll be fine, Mr Woods. These designs are fairly simple, I should be able to finish them in plenty of time for Christmas." Looking unconvinced, Mr Woods left Hiccup to it and walked back over to his desk.

By the end of the lesson Hiccup had finished all his sketches and completed one of his final technical drawings, even labelling it and writing down the equipment and materials he would need in order to make it. As the teacher called the class to the front of the room, a ball of paper landed on Thorn's desk. She unwrapped it. It read, _stop looking at him and get on with your work, lover girl. And tell your boyfriend to work slower, none of us can keep up_. Thorn looked up angrily to see who had put the paper on her desk. Unfortunately, whoever it was had already blended into the scrum gathering behind her desk, but it wasn't too hard to narrow the class of thirty down to about five names. Top of the list was Snotlout and his cronies of course. She gave Snotlout a long hard stare, which was greeted with a quizzical look- not one of his usual smirks or scowls. Quickly looking around, she searched for other culprits, but Mr Woods had already finished talking and was dismissing the class. Her attempts were foiled as everyone rushed for the door. Getting to her feet, Thorn followed the crowd out. She found Hiccup and asked him what Mr Woods had said.

"Oh, just that there wasn't any homework, and that we should enjoy the rest of our day. Nothing too important really. I was wondering... Are we allowed in the workshop at lunchtimes?" Thorn silently sighing, they walked out into some rare sunshine, picked up their bags and walked to their next lesson.

At the end of the day Thorn and Hiccup walked to the school gates together.

"So, um, see you tomorrow?" asked Hiccup.

"Yeah, sure" replied Thorn. They walked off their separate ways, Thorn to the left, Hiccup to the right. And, just once, Thorn tried to sneak a quick glance at Hiccup's departing back. She was denied her chance.

And so it went on. Day after day of lessons, Hiccup finding his only enjoyment in Technology, Thorn in Chemistry. As the days wants by, the pair became inseparable. Hiccup would help Thorn with her desk tidy, and Thorn would help Hiccup balance equations. The desk tidy was finished in a month, and Mr Woods let Hiccup build much more advanced machines. Most lunchtimes he had free Hiccup would spend tinkering in the workshop.

The end of year exams arrived in April. The exam timetables handed out were greeted with groans of disappointment.

"Oh, this is terrible!" Hiccup exclaimed. "There's no Technology exam!"

"Well of course not, you wazzock," replied Thorn, punching him playfully on the arm.

"Ow! Why would you do that?" There was a moment when their eyes met, Thorn's mismatched eyes gazing deeply into Hiccup's green ones. With the arrival of a paper ball in Hiccup's face, the contact was broken.

"Hey, lover boy. You guys look cute together. The tech geek and the scientist." Hiccup tried his most evil, piercing stare, but it must have come out wrong because Snotlout and Tuffnut laughed in his face before turning away. And so, they became an item. People were always making fun of them. Thorn and Hiccup didn't even pretend to love each other. They were just friends. Unfortunately, everybody misinterpreted everything. 'Geek lovers', they were nicknamed. That was the most complimentary. The rest were a lot worse.

The holidays before the exams had just started. While Hiccup was sitting at his desk, the phone rang.

"Hiccup, it's for you!" his dad yelled, a slight note of surprise in his voice. Hiccup walked out onto the landing and into his parents' bedroom, then picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey." It was Thorn (to be honest, he didn't have any other friends).

"I, um, just wanted to ask... Would you like to come round tomorrow to revise?" The words all came out in a rush, as if she had to pluck up the courage to say them.

"Sure," replied Hiccup. "Is one thirty okay for you? I can probably sleep over too, if you want me to?"

"I'm not too bothered. You'll have to bring your own sleeping bag, and it won't be a comfortable night, but you can sleep over if you like. See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, bye." Hiccup ended the call. He then started packing bags, before remembering he hadn't even told his dad about his plans. Rushing downstairs, he told his dad. Luckily he was pretty relaxed about Hiccup going out, he even seemed pleased he had made a friend.

"I'm sure it will be great. Would you like some candy to take with you?"

The next day, Hiccup quickly ate his lunch, then restlessly paced about the house. He'd never been to another person's house before. Not for revision, or anything like that. At last, one o'clock arrived. His dad had offered to take him round, so they set off. Hiccup was a bundle of nerves. He hadn't been out of the house (apart from to go to school) since his mum died in a car crash last summer.

"Calm down, son. It'll be fine," Stoick said as the car pulled up outside Thorn's house.

"Just give me a call tomorrow and I'll come and collect you. All set?"

"Yep. See you tomorrow, Dad." With this, Hiccup got out of the car, collected his bags from the boot, and walked up to the door of Thorn's house. It was modern and large, much bigger than his own small semi-detached one. It was painted pale green, not that there was much wall to be painted. Large portions of the house were glass, giving impressive views from all sides. Gulping, Hiccup stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell. Soon after, the door opened.

"Hi," said Thorn, and invited him in.

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**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**About the use of wazzock in this chapter- it's my favourite uncomplimentary word, so I just had to put it in my story somewhere!**

**Absi B**


	4. Everything Changes Part 1

**Yet another chapter- yay!  
This one's rather long, but it's a pretty pivotal chapter in the story.**

**Hopefully Part 2 should be along soon, although I'm not making any promises as to the exact date.**

**N.B. Year 10 in UK is equivalent to 9th Grade in US, and I don't know anything about your exam system so I can't comment on that (sorry!)**

**As always, please read and review. Enjoy!**

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Everything Changes Part 1

Stoick watched his son walk into Thorn's house. He stayed outside for a few minutes, just watching the front door. Finally realising that he looked a bit of an idiot, he started to drive away, often glancing back at the house until it went out of sight.

Thorn led Hiccup upstairs to her bedroom, which was quite messy and full of books. The walls were painted a pale shade of green, although not much of the wall could be seen because most of the available surface was covered with posters. Bookcases lined three of the walls, her bed making an awkward gap in between, almost as if it shouldn't have been there. On the shelves, books were double stacked and haphazardly piled on the floor in front of the bookcases. Magazines and articles about science littered the desk, where a pastel green laptop was hiding, along with some revision books and textbooks.

"Sorry about the mess," Thorn said, quickly trying to move some of the stacks to make room for Hiccup to sit on the desk chair. She perched on the bed, and they sat in silence for a moment, neither one sure what to say.

"So… um, you want to do some revision?" Hiccup asked.

"That sounds like a plan. What subject you want to do first?"

"None of them, really," Hiccup said, a faint smile on his face. "But if I had to choose, I'd go with… Chemistry." He knew that Chemistry was Thorn's favourite subject.

"Okay then, let's get started." Thorn dug out her Chemistry books, and Hiccup rummaged through his bags looking for his things. Once they had all their materials, they sat down and started to test each other.

"Okay, question one. What do you get when you mix an acid and a base?"

"Easy, a salt and water. Next!"

"Easy for you, you're the best in the year at Chemistry. The only reason I do well is because you teach me stuff and let me copy your work!" Hiccup commented.

Receiving a glare from Thorn, Hiccup quickly moved onto the next question.

"Question two. How many electrons does Sodium have?"

"Eleven. And tell me this: how are they arranged?"

"What?" Thorn sighed.

"What is the electronic structure of Sodium?" Thorn asked.

"What?" Hiccup said again. He started frantically flicking through the textbook and all his notes, trying to see what he had missed.

"But… we haven't learned that, have we?"

"You haven't… but I have."

"A bit above our level, is it?"

"Yeah, A- Level stuff, but, well, GCSE stuff was getting a bit easy and it never really explains it _properly_, so I had to research it myself. Here, let me explain it to you."

Thorn grabbed a notepad and pen, and sat down on the bed next to Hiccup.

For the next hour they discussed some more Chemistry, but eventually Hiccup just gave up; most of it was going over his head anyway.

"Do you understand _now?"_ Thorn asked impatiently.

"Yeah… of course I do. These things fly around another thing, and in reactions things move about and end up somewhere else. Right?"

"Have you actually been paying _any _attention to what I've been telling you this past hour?" Thorn said playfully, throwing a cushion at him.

"No," Hiccup admitted, throwing the cushion back.

"Right, that's it!" Thorn exclaimed, then started hitting Hiccup with the cushion.

What had started out as a sensible revision session had degraded into a pillow fight. When at last they finished, Hiccup and Thorn sat on the bed and looked at the mess they had made. At some point during their cushion war, one of the cushions had broken open, spilling filling everywhere.

"Oops!" Hiccup said. "Sorry about your cushion."

"It doesn't matter," Thorn said, their eyes meeting. Hiccup felt like his soul was being searched, such was the depth of her gaze.

"So… you want to get back to some revision?" Hiccup asked.

"Ahh… it can wait," Thorn replied, leaning closer to Hiccup.

"What are you-?" Hiccup started to say, but he was cut off when a warm pair of lips pressed against his own. Thorn let her lips linger on his for what seemed like an hour before pulling away.

"Oh," was all Hiccup could say.

"You know, the Hollywood Production Code in 1930 limited the length of kisses." Thorn replied.

"Really? Well, I'm just glad we're not in a 1930s movie," Hiccup said, before kissing her gently once more.

"There, that's our History revision done," Thorn commented.

"If only questions about the Hollywood Production Code ever appeared in exam questions, you and I would ace that one." For a few minutes they sat side by side, their eyes never leaving the other's.

"You know, when I first met you, I thought, _stay away, this idiot will only get you bullied more._ I'm glad I stuck with you. I don't care that you're a scrawny geek who hates sport and spends all his free time working. I don't care that your clothes look like they came from the last century, or that your bag looks like it's been owned by five family members before you. I just… don't care any more. All I care about is you." Thorn continued to stare at Hiccup.

"Well, when I look at you, all I see is a weak girl who hates sport and studies for A Level Chemistry because it's fun. I see somebody who couldn't give a damn what clothes she pulled out of the drawer in the morning. I look at you, and I see myself." His speech done, Hiccup finally looked away.

That evening, they tried to concentrate on revision, but it was difficult. After what seemed like an eternity, Thorn's mum looked in to tell them dinner was ready.

"What on _earth _happened in here!?" her mother exclaimed.

"We, um, we had a pillow fight," Thorn said meekly.

"I thought you were meant to be revising?" her mum said sternly.

"We were, we just took a break for a few minutes, and-"

"It was my fault," Hiccup broke in. "Thorn was trying to explain something to me and I got bored, so I threw a cushion at her. We ended up having a pillow fight, and my cushion burst. I'm sorry; I can clean it up tomorrow before I go home."

"Okay, but after dinner I want to see some real revision. Now come on, dinner will be getting cold!" The three of them hurried downstairs and ate their dinner. Thorn's mum kept up a steady stream of conversation throughout, but neither Hiccup nor Thorn seemed inclined to give much more than one word answers.

"So, Hiccup, are your mum and dad taking this opportunity and going out for a nice dinner?"

"Um, no. My mum died last summer in a car crash. She was in the passenger seat when my dad was driving, and I was in the back. I broke my arm and got a concussion, my dad messed up his shoulder, but my mum's seatbelt wasn't made properly and it snapped, so she flew through the windscreen." He rolled up his sleeve to show them the scars left from the crash.

"Oh, Hiccup! That's terrible! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. Nobody else knows. I haven't been out of the house since then, except for school of course. You couldn't have known." After that, the rest of the dinner went by in silence.

When Hiccup and Thorn escaped back upstairs after dinner, they closed the curtains and shared another kiss.

"I didn't know your mum was dead. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask. Besides, I didn't want you to know. Suddenly everybody feels really sorry for you, and it's terrible. I hate it when people _pretend _to care." Hiccup suddenly looked very angry, until Thorn took his shoulders in her hands and turned him to face her.

"Well, I know now. Let's just forget it and get on with some revision. If you get the answer right, I give you a kiss. Deal?"

"Deal," Hiccup agreed enthusiastically, and they sat down together to revise.

Late that night, Thorn and Hiccup finally went to bed. Their revision session had lasted about an hour and a half, and most of that time wasn't really spent properly revising. Afterwards they sat on Thorn's bed and watched a movie. It was a romance, which Hiccup didn't really like, but whenever the characters in the movie kissed, they would kiss too, and that made it bearable.

"Right then, I'll get my sleeping bag," Hiccup said.

"Don't be stupid. You can have my bed, I'll sleep on the floor," Thorn replied. "And don't try to be all noble and polite and make me sleep in the bed. I'll just knock you out and put you there." Her threat sounded real enough, so Hiccup climbed into the bed while Thorn lay down on the floor.

"Night," Hiccup said, and was surprised when instead of a similar reply he got a goodnight kiss.

"See you in the morning," Thorn said, as her eyes closed and she drifted off to her dreams.

The next morning they were awoken by Thorn's mum knocking on the door and yelling at them that breakfast was ready.

"Come on guys, I've made pancakes!" That certainly got the pair of them up. Thorn pulled on a pair of slippers and turned to Hiccup.

"Morning, beautiful. You know, I think you look better with a bed head."

"I could say the same about you. Although, it doesn't really look that much different from your normal hairstyle," Hiccup said playfully. For that comment he got a punch on the arm and a kiss to show it was only a joke. Together they went downstairs, eager to eat some pancakes. When they got to the kitchen, they were greeted by giant plates piled high with pancakes.

"Tuck in," Thorn's mother said, and they both did so with gusto. The pancakes may only have been normal breakfast pancakes, but they were perfectly cooked and smothered in maple syrup. To Hiccup, whose dad's limited (and not great) cooking was his normal, the pancakes tasted like a meal from heaven. He wished that he could stay at Thorn's for the whole holiday and just eat these pancakes. Hiccup wolfed down the pancakes in minutes, asking for more. Thorn's mother obediently placed another full plate in front of him, and, soon enough, they were all gone too.

"My, for such a small boy, you've got quite an appetite."

"Never tasted pancakes this good before. My dad's cooking sucks," Hiccup replied. Once they had both finished, they went back upstairs and got changed, then Hiccup started to clean up the mess they had made last night.

"Come on Hiccup, let me help!" Thorn was adamant that she should be helping Hiccup- after all, she was the one who threw the cushion first.

"No. Go and do something else- revise or something. I know we didn't do that much of it yesterday."

"But that's no fun! I want to be with you!"

"Well, I guess you can hold the black bag open while I clean up the mess…"

"Yes!" Thorn exclaimed, and dashed downstairs to get a black bag. Thirty seconds later she was back.

"Can I help now?" she asked impatiently.

"Yep. Hold the bag open, I've got a handful here." Thorn held the bag open while Hiccup picked up all the feathers. The job only took about twenty minutes, and once it was done Hiccup suggested more revision.

"I can't believe you. Your favourite subject isn't even in an exam, and you want to _revise? _Now? Can't we just have fun now, and you can revise later?" Thorn moaned, moving in for a kiss. Hiccup dodged the advance easily.

"I came over to revise, not have fun. Tell you what, let's do an hour of revision, and then we can stop for half an hour. Do whatever we want. Is that okay for you?"

"I guess." Thorn's miserable tone suggested anything but.

The revision session actually lasted the whole hour. At the end, Thorn and Hiccup turned on some music and just lay together on the bed. No words needed to be said. When the half hour was up, Thorn was not in the mood to go back to revising. So they didn't. They just spent four hours together, then Hiccup phoned his dad and asked to be picked up.

"But… can't you stay a little longer?"

"If I stay, both of us will flunk. I can't let you fail. Or me. I'll call you every day. I'll come round as often as I can. The holidays aren't that long- when we go back to school we'll be together for the whole day."

Twenty minutes later Stoick arrived. Hiccup gathered up his things and gave Thorn a long kiss.

"So, the rumours are true, then. About us."

"They are now," Hiccup replied, making his way down the stairs. As she opened the front door, she suddenly wanted to grab him back and make out, but her mum was standing behind her so she contented herself with a hug and a tiny peck on the cheek that she thought her mum wouldn't see.

"See you soon, Thorn," Hiccup said in parting, then made his way to his car. Getting in, he saw his father smiling.

"Good on you, son." All Hiccup could do was give his father a quizzical look.

"She's a nice girl. You've got taste."

"Wait. You don't think… we're not… we're just… friends. Just friends," Hiccup stammered. Stoick just laughed, put the car in gear, and drove off.

Thorn closed the door and turned round to find her mother still standing there, a smile on her face.

"I never knew you hugged people goodbye."

"He's my friend, mum. It's what kids do."

"I didn't think you kissed _friends_. Or do kids these days do that too?" Her mother fixed her with a knowing stare. Thorn couldn't even try to deny it.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. And he can come round any time he likes." Thorn's mum left her standing by the door for a few moments, until she found her senses again and made her way to her bedroom.

After that, Hiccup and Thorn called or texted each other every single day, and visited each other regularly. Granted, their revision went down the drain, but suddenly nothing else really mattered. When the holidays were finally over, Hiccup and Thorn were reunited at school. Although, they did try to hide their relationship. They tried to convince the rest of the class that they were still just great friends. But the name calling and taunting continued. The rumours continued to spread. But this time they were not rumours. They were fact.

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**Hope you enjoyed Part 1- it's a pretty important time for Hiccup and Thorn.**

**Everything Changes (both of them) are probably going to be the most important chapters in the story (hence the name), so please stick around for one more chapter. Hopefully the next chapter should be up in the next week.**

**Absi B**


	5. Everything Changes Part 2

**Over 300 views already! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and appreciate my work. Thank you also to the people who have reviewed and suggested things. **

**This was a pretty fun chapter to write (it's got quite a lot of action in it). I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Enjoy!**

Everything Changes Part 2

Thorn and Hiccup were sitting in their first proper lesson after the exams.

"Well, I'm glad they're over. Two hours sitting in a chair writing essays does _not _appeal to me at all."

"Me neither. At least our first lesson is Tech. That makes it all a bit more bearable."

"Actually, I would have preferred Chemistry." They both laughed and grinned, then looked around nervously as nobody else seemed to be making much noise.

"What's so funny about isometric sketches, Hiccup?" Mr Woods asked. He had become a firm favourite of the teacher, as he was so gifted and worked so hard.

"Um, nothing, sir. Thorn just told me a joke."

"Well, _Rose_, maybe you'd like to share this _joke_ with the rest of the class, hm?"

"Actually, not really, sir. I'd rather just get on with my drawings." She turned her face downwards, towards her page, and tried to concentrate on drawing a design for a speaker they were going to be making. Hiccup had 'special dispensation', as Mr Woods had termed it, which basically meant that he could do whatever he wanted. He could not have been happier- whole hours, when he could make whatever he pleased. Today he was designing a miniature trebuchet, designed to throw small stones. It had all manner of complicated springs, levers and buttons, but to Hiccup it was all second nature. Thorn looked over at his drawing, seemingly confused.

"Confused? Okay, let me explain. This section here is all made from wood; I don't know what type yet, but…" Hiccup's voice drifted into the background, as she wasn't really bothered, and she didn't really understand, about how it all worked; she just knew that when it was finished the craftsmanship would be exquisite and it would all work perfectly.

Suddenly the fire alarm rang. The class looked around in panic, until Mr Woods shouted over the din.

"Okay, class. Single file out the door, please." At that point a loud voice came on over the loudspeaker.

"This is not a drill. Please evacuate as quickly as possible." That was it. Kids started running around yelling, getting quite hysterical. Even Mr Woods looked flustered. The situation was only made worse when acrid black smoke started curling up from under the door. Everybody made to huddle in the opposite corner.

"Class! We need to evacuate immediately! Follow me towards the door; use a jumper or something to cover your face. Quickly!" Mr Woods' voice could barely be heard over the screaming of the fire alarm and the whimpering of the hysterical children. The class began to shuffle towards the door, hurriedly taking a few final breaths of clean air and covering their mouths with whatever material came to hand. More smoke was billowing underneath the door. Time was running out.

"I'm going to open this door, and you all need to move to the exit as quickly as possible. Ready? NOW!" The final word turned into a yell as he wrenched the door open and smoke began to pour into the workshop. The class surged through the small opening, sprinting for the exit. In the scrum Thorn and Hiccup became separated. When Thorn made it outside, coughing and spluttering, she looked around frantically for Hiccup. Around her, groups were forming, already discussing the fire and what would soon become their 'brave and daring escape from the jaws of death'. Nobody who hadn't been in that room would know how, instead, the 'brave and daring' cowered in a corner, terrified for their lives. She pushed through the groups, but there was no scrawny kid among them. Mr Woods came staggering out of the door at last, coughing violently.  
"Right… I'm going to do the register now." He started reading names from his list, pausing often to cough- since he had spent the most time in the fumes, he had been worst affected.

"Hiccup." An ominous silence greeted the name.

"Hiccup?" Mr Woods repeated, in case he hadn't heard.

"Has anybody seen Hiccup?" His voice was becoming more and more panicky. Thorn's face fell. He was still inside.

Hiccup staggered through the smoke, breathing shallowly through his nostrils. With one hand he held his jumper up to his face, with the other, he felt blindly ahead of him, trying to avoid any walls. The smoke was everywhere. It had blinded him- the only 'eye' he had now was his small, pale hand, stretched in front of him. When the class had been sprinting for the exit, Hiccup had heard a shout. The voice sounded like it was in trouble.

"Where are you?" Hiccup yelled into the corridor.

"HERE! FOLLOW MY VOICE!" Now that Hiccup could hear the voice more clearly, he could tell the voice was a young boy's. He guessed that he would be from one of the younger years. He blindly stumbled along, following the sound of the boy who had, thankfully, not stopped shouting since. At one point he tripped over some fallen debris, landing hard on the hot floor and losing what little sense of direction he had left. It also served as a warning. Debris didn't just appear out of nowhere; the building must be falling apart. Struggling to his feet, he continued staggering towards the voice. Opening his eyes a crack, he could just make out a wall and a blue door. _The poor kid's stuck in the toilets, _he thought. Pushing open the door, he fell into the toilets as his legs gave way underneath him.

"Come out! I'm just inside the door! We need to move fast!"

"But that's the point! I'm stuck!" _Oh great, _thought Hiccup. He dragged himself back to his feet, almost crying out as he put weight on his left leg. Limping heavily, he made it to the cubicle in which the boy was stuck.

"Can you put your arms under the door so I can pull you out?" Hiccup asked. A stick- thin pair of arms obediently stuck themselves under the bottom of the door. Hiccup bent over, grabbed his arms, and pulled. The boy he had just rescued was fairly small, with hair as black as the night. He was dressed all in black too, quite Gothic in his appearance.

"What's your name?" Hiccup asked.

"Toothleth," he replied with a lisp, grinning. It wasn't so hard to see where he had got his name. Instead of rows of sparkling white teeth lining his gums, there were just pink gums.

"Okay, Toothless, I'm Hiccup. Are you good to go? Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go!" The pair of them made their way towards the exit, Hiccup leading Toothless. The door opened, Hiccup could see (but not very well) that the situation had become worse since he had first pushed open the blue door.

"We won't have time to walk out of here! I can't run. We'll have to think of another way!"

"Which way is the exit?" Toothless yelled over the roaring of the fire.

"Through the tech rooms… wait. You've done it, bud!" Excitedly he began to limp towards the workshop, Toothless following. Forcing open the door, he found what he had been looking for just metres away- the go kart. Hiccup grabbed the helmet and pushed it onto Toothless' head.

"Let's see if this works," Hiccup said, grabbing the pull start and yanking it as hard as he could. Desperation gave him strength. The engine started with a growl.

"Get in!" Hiccup climbed in and Toothless had to squeeze in on top, since the kart was only designed for one. He pressed the accelerator and spun the wheel, driving the kart out the door. From there it was a straight dash to freedom. He gunned the engine and drove like a demon, trying to escape. Before he reached the end of the corridor some debris fell, blocking the way. But Hiccup had been driving too fast. He couldn't avoid the debris. The kart crashed into the debris and flipped, flinging Toothless out and smashing Hiccup against the wall. The kart was fairly close to the door, so Toothless ended up outside. Safe.

"Hiccup's still in there!" he yelled at Mr Woods, who immediately dashed back through the door. Thirty seconds later he emerged, carrying the limp body of Hiccup in his arms. Thorn could see his clothes had been badly burned, and there was a large welt on his head.

"HICCUP!" she yelled, running over. But before she could get to her friend, a group of paramedics rushed over to him and carried him off to an ambulance.

"No! HICCUP!" she yelled again to the departing ambulance. Mr Woods came over and laid a hand softly on her shoulder.

"Come on, Rose. We need to do a register, make sure everybody's here."

"But they're not, are they?" Thorn replied angrily. "Hiccup's not here."

After the register had been called, and everybody bar Hiccup marked as present, the class looked back at their classroom, which was being doused in water. The fire had started in the kitchens, which were really close to their workroom. Everyone was glad that they'd all made it out okay. Except Thorn. She was the only one who seemed to care that not everybody was there. Hiccup was probably lying in a hospital bed right now, with nurses and doctors helping him. He might not be okay.

"Right, class. Since our workshop is still in flames, we have been told to go to the dining hall, where you will spend the rest of the afternoon. I will supervise you during this time, and dismiss you at the end of the day." The class groaned (evidently they thought they would get to go home) and slowly made their way towards the dining hall, dragging their feet all the way. Thorn hung back, waiting for Mr Woods.

"Will school be open tomorrow?" she asked.

"I don't know, Rose. Quite a few of the classrooms have been destroyed by the fire. It might end up that just those people having exams come in. The school might have to close completely. If it does, we'll have to send out work for the students. It's actually worse for us if the school closes."

"Do you think Hiccup will be all right?"

"Well… he had a nasty bump on his head, his clothes were pretty burnt, and I'd wager he inhaled a lot of smoke. I think it'll take a week or so, maybe longer if he was burned, but then he'll be right as rain." Seeing Thorn's shocked and sad look, he said, "I'm sure he's going to be fine. He's a good kid. How many others would have willingly gone back and helped that boy? Probably none. Come on; let's get to the dining hall. You don't have to work if you don't want to."

"Actually sir, I'd prefer to. Take my mind off things."

The school did end up being closed. Work packages were sent out to each student, with instructions about their completion. Thorn worked hard for the first week, determined to finish the work quickly so she would have more time to visit Hiccup. His father had said that he had been burned, and was in intensive care. He wasn't awake either, but he would call as soon as his son woke up. A week after the fire, Stoick called to say Hiccup had woken up. Thorn asked excitedly if she could come and visit him, but Stoick informed him that Hiccup didn't want to see anybody.

"Not even… his… um, his girlfriend?" she asked, astonished.

"Not even you. I'm sorry," Stoick replied, and hung up.

For the last weeks until the end of the school year, Thorn texted or phoned Hiccup every day asking if she could come and visit. His reply was always no. He said that surely just talking was enough. Just as school broke up for the summer, Hiccup was allowed home. Thorn texted him all the time.

_Can I come round now you're out?_

Not now. I've got a lot of appointments to keep. Isn't talking enough?

No. I want to see you. I want to hug you.

Wait until we get back to school in September. I'll be ready to see you then.

That was the last message Hiccup sent her over the holidays. He didn't call, didn't text. It was like he had forgotten about her. Forgotten about their sleepover. Forgotten about… everything.

**Yet another cliffhanger!**

**I'm also inviting you to try and guess what will happen next, I'll reveal who was right in the next chapter!**

**Absi B****  
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	6. New Beginnings

**Another chapter! I've been writing like a demon trying to get this done before I go back to school so I don't have to worry about it. **

**As always, please read and review, and I hope you enjoy.**

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New Beginnings

At last September arrived. Thorn enthusiastically gathered up her things and swung her school bag over her shoulder, then set out for school. She walked quickly to school, eager to get there and meet Hiccup again. She walked so quickly she arrived ten minutes earlier than everyone else. On the front door of the school was a list of the new form rooms. She found her room, and walked to it, looking out for her locker along the way. Her locker was just round the corner from her new form room, so she took the opportunity to take out all her heavy books and dump them in her locker. As she approached the door of Room 1, her new form room, she saw that it was empty. That was strange. Hiccup usually got into school about an hour before registration so he could work on his projects in the workshop. Maybe he didn't have anything to work on- after all, everything in the workshop was destroyed by the fire, and it was only the first day back. Dejectedly she pushed open the door and took a seat, opening a book and settling down to read.

When the teacher walked in on time, there was still no sign of Hiccup. Thorn looked around worriedly, thinking she had missed his face. The teacher began to call the register, and made it all the way to the end without any appearance from Hiccup. As she was handing out their new homework books, the classroom door opened.

"Sorry I'm late, miss." The familiar voice lifted Thorn's heart.

"That's all right, Hiccup. Take a seat." The thin figure of Hiccup appeared in the doorway. He had changed a lot since the fire last summer. His face had gotten thinner, and he looked gaunt. Scars from burns crept up his neck. His hair was duller, more limp than before. He looked like somebody who had suffered far too much. As he walked in, Thorn noticed he was limping slightly. Her eyes wandering down his legs, she noticed the reason why.

Below his left knee, a strange contraption stood in place of a foot and a shoe. It was made of wood and metal, and made a slight squeaking sound when he walked from the spring inside it. Hiccup sat down heavily in the chair next to Thorn and sighed, rubbing his leg absent-mindedly. All Thorn could do was stare.

"Hiccup. What… what happened?"

"When I was rescuing that boy… Toothless… I hurt my leg somehow. I just thought it was a cut or something, but it turned out I'd broken it. The fire and dust got to the wound, and… well, you can see the result." Thorn examined his prosthetic more closely.

"Is that… did you make this?" she asked.

"Yeah. I put a spring in it to make it easier to walk on. Do you like it?"

"Um, I don't know. It's so… Hiccup."

"Hey, Hiccup!" a voice called out from across the room. "I like your new look. Very tough guy."

"Err… thanks?" Hiccup replied, unsure what to say.

"Is that why you wouldn't let me come and visit?"

"Yes. I didn't want you to see me like this, until you had to. Right after I lost it, my leg hurt so much, and I was so weak and feeble. I didn't want you to see me that way. I wanted to wait until I could walk."

"Oh, Hiccup! I wanted to be there for you. I could have helped you! I love you, for goodness sake! Do you think seeing you like that would repulse me? Make me leave you?"

"No… well, maybe. Oh fine. Yes. Thorn, this is how I cope. I shut people out when something bad happens. I stay at home, keep to myself. It's what I did when my mum died."

"Well, maybe I can change that. You want to come round after school?"

"Yeah. That would be nice. Thanks, Thorn." They sat there awkwardly for the rest of registration, reminiscent of the first time they had met at the beginning of last year. When they were finally dismissed, Hiccup heaved himself to his feet (well, foot), grabbed his bag, and started making his way to the door.

"Wait up! What lesson do you have first?" she asked.

"Physics," Hiccup replied, turning away. Thorn quickly followed him, and fell in step beside him.

"Are you okay walking that far?" Thorn asked, notes of concern in every syllable.

"Fine," Hiccup grunted, limping more heavily with each step. As they went through the door to head towards the science labs, Hiccup's leg gave way and he fell, spilling his things all over the floor. Thorn rushed to try and pick up all his books, while Hiccup painfully dragged himself to a bench and watched.

"Thank you," Hiccup said breathlessly. Pain was etched into his face; it seemed to now be deeply ingrained there. He reached for his backpack, but was thwarted by a slap on the face by Thorn.

"No you don't. I'll carry your bag for now. You think you can make it to science?"

"With a little help, maybe." Thorn slung Hiccup's bag over her other shoulder and hooked Hiccup's arm around her shoulders, then pulled him off the bench. Slowly they made their way to science, Hiccup hardly putting any weight on his prosthetic at all.

"It's a good thing you're not too heavy; I would have dropped you by now," Thorn panted with the exertion.

When they reached the science block, Thorn dumped their bags outside and gathered up the things they would need for the next lesson. She then helped him to the classroom, arriving ten minutes late. This time, the teacher didn't mind. When the lesson was over, they made their slow way back to their form room for break.

"What lesson do we have after break?" Hiccup asked.

"Um," Thorn said, digging out her timetable and scanning down it for the correct lesson, "P.E."

"Yay," Hiccup cheered half-heartedly. "A lesson where I get to do nothing."

"Are you ever going to be able to do P.E. again?" Thorn asked, her eyes flicking downwards, then focusing on his neck.

"Don't know. But, right now, I think I've got a pretty good excuse not to." He laughed, and Thorn joined in. They went to the changing rooms, Hiccup going left, Thorn right.

"You're on your own from here," Thorn said, taking Hiccup's arm from her shoulder.

"I think I can manage ten steps," Hiccup replied with a chuckle. He tried to take a step, but fell to one knee, hissing in pain.

"Or maybe ten hops," Hiccup said, forcing a smile. Thorn helped him to his feet, and he half limped, half hopped, into the changing room. Thorn grinned, and made her way into the changing room. She changed in record time, and dashed into the gym expecting to meet Hiccup. But he wasn't there. A look of surprise crossed her face. Although, as quickly as it arrived, it was gone again, as the door opened and Hiccup fell onto the floor. Thorn helped him back onto his feet.

"You know, you're even scrawnier, weaker, and more of a klutz than you were before! And before you _were _pretty bad."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't a hero last summer," Hiccup replied. "You know, that kid I saved has been looking for me. I wouldn't let him come round either. Maybe one lunch you could help me find him?"

"Of course. I'd love to see what he says when he sees you again. Might be fun! And I doubt you'd be able to make it without me, either!" At this point Mr Jones came out of the office and regarded the pair of them.

"You again. I had hoped that this year you might do a little better and remember your kit, but I see my hopes were too high. What have you got to say?" he demanded.

"I don't have much to say, but I can show you," Hiccup replied, extending his left leg and rolling up his sleeves. Underneath the pale green sleeves, his arms were bony and scarred. _Must have been from the fire_, Thorn thought.

"May I have permission to sit out gym class for a while, sir?" Hiccup asked politely.

"Err… of course. Um…" Mr Jones was flustered. He had no idea what to do with a student missing a _limb_.

"Do you want to grab a book and do some work or something?" he asked.

"Okay," Hiccup replied, slowly getting up with some help from Thorn, and limping into the changing room to get his things. More people started coming into the gym from the changing room, and soon everybody but Hiccup was seated on the benches. Mr Jones scanned the group, but couldn't see his face.

"Snotlout, can you go and check where Hiccup is, please?"

"Yes Mr Jones," Snotlout grumbled, dragging his feet through the door of the changing room. Inside, he found Hiccup sitting on a bench breathing heavily, a pile of books on his lap.

"Come on, Hiccup. Everybody's waiting!" When Hiccup looked up at him with pain- filled eyes, he relented. Grabbing Hiccup's arm, he threw it over his shoulder and lifted him up with no apparent effort.

"I'm only doing this so I get to do sport. Don't think this is gonna be a regular thing, okay?"

"Thanks," Hiccup replied, pushing off Snotlout and making his way through the changing room door unaided. When he came through the door, every one of his classmates' eyes turned to him. Not a single pair of eyes were focused on his face. Some stared at the burns visible on his neck and arms, but most just looked at his leg. His cheeks turning bright red from all the attention, he collapsed onto the bench next to Thorn.

"Right, class. Pair up- today we'll be playing tennis since it's such a nice day outside." Everybody quickly moved about trying to find a partner. Thorn sat there, her only eligible option out of the running.

"Is there anybody who doesn't have a partner?" Mr Jones asked. Thorn raised her hand.

"Is it just Rose? Well, you'll have to pair up with me. Everybody out to the tennis courts- and make sure you grab a racket and ball on the way!" Thorn intended to wait until some of the scrum by the door had gone, but before she could make her way outside a hand landed on her shoulder.

"If you don't want to play tennis with me, that's fine. _For this lesson only._ Just this once, I'll let you stay here with Hiccup if you want, because I didn't know about him. Next lesson, I'll make sure it's a group thing so you won't get left out. All right?"

"Thank you, sir," Thorn replied gratefully. As Mr Jones went outside to join his class, Thorn and Hiccup sat on a bench in the gym.

"Are you actually going to do some work?" Thorn asked.

"I will in a minute. Just let me get this off." He paused, tugging at his prosthetic.

"Here, let me help," Thorn said, but Hiccup shook his head and continued to struggle.

"It's fine. I need to learn to do it myself anyway." Finally it came free and Hiccup let it fall to the floor with a thud that echoed throughout the gym. He then started to massage the part of his leg it had been attached to.

"Are you sure you're okay to be at school? You don't seem to be faring too well," Thorn said, concerned.

"I'll be fine. I'm always fine." He paused to give her a quick kiss.

"Are you going back to the hospital soon?" she asked.

"Friday. Got a physiotherapy session. Why?"

"Maybe you should ask for a pair of crutches. That way, I won't have to carry you everywhere." Hiccup sighed, evidently irritated.

"If I have to."

"Yes. You have to. Sometimes, you've just got to admit you're in pain and you need help. You can't just deny it time and time again. I can see it's not working. Please. Do it for me." Thorn's pleading speech and wide eyes finally convinced him.

They sat in companionable silence for the rest of the lesson, trying to do their homework now rather than having to do it later. Mr Jones walked in and dismissed them both. Soon afterwards, they heard the sounds of the rest of the class returning from their lesson. Hiccup reattached his leg (this time accepting Thorn's offer of help), and went through the changing rooms to collect his belongings. This time, there were no taunts or signs of bullying from any of the other boys. He limped to the door and opened it. This time, there was no fist outside waiting for his face; just Thorn's friendly one, smiling back at him. She pulled his bag onto her shoulder, then let him lean on her as they made their way towards the next lesson.

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**Congratulations to Ferdoos, who managed to guess correctly what happened to Hiccup (and only about fifteen minutes after I'd actually posted the chapter too)! **

**Hopefully the next chapter should be up within the week, school's back tomorrow (whoopee) so my updates might get a little more sporadic. But, they will come.**

**If you want something else to read while you're waiting for the next update, you can check out my collaboration with LesserWraith. Here's the link - s/9614735/1/Anything-for-Life. If you go to my profile you can get to a clickable link.**

**Absi B**


	7. Idols

**It's been a while, but I've been so bogged down with work I haven't had as much time as I'd like to write. But, the next chapter is finally here. **

**As always, enjoy!**

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Idols

Hiccup and Thorn got out of school as quickly as possible after the final bell rang (admittedly, that was not very fast). They walked to the car park, where Thorn's mum had agreed to pick them up. However, she didn't know anything about what had happened to Hiccup. When she saw Hiccup leaning on Thorn and limping heavily, when she saw what had happened to his leg, she rushed over, trying to help. Both of them waved away any offers of help. Together they made it to the car. Hiccup got bundled into the front seat by Thorn, who then jumped in the back. Thorn's mother got in the driver's seat, still a bit shocked. Starting the car and putting it in gear, she at last gave her opinion.

"Thorn, why didn't you tell me? Didn't you think that your mother would want to know your best friend got hurt in that fire? Hurt badly?" She cast a pitying glance at Hiccup, who scowled.

"That's exactly why I didn't invite her round, or why I didn't tell her, or why she didn't know until today. I knew all I'd get was pity. _Oh, poor Hiccup, he lost his leg, what a shame. Poor Hiccup, for hearing that boy and trying to save him_- all he got in return was a missing limb!" Hiccup's savage and bitter words stung both Thorn and her mother.

"_I_ don't pity you, Hiccup. I've told you before. I don't care what you look like, what you wear, that you suck at sports. I wanted to help you- that's all I've ever wanted. And being bitter and resentful doesn't suit you." Thorn delivered her words with such force that Hiccup knew they were true.

"And I'm sorry about what I said," Thorn's mother commented. "If you don't want pity, I won't give it to you." The rest of the short car journey passed in silence.

When they arrived home they immediately went upstairs to Thorn's bedroom. Hiccup reached out for the bed, and collapsed onto it, only to suddenly drop to the floor as he had caused some of the slats to come out of the bedframe.

"Oops! Sorry Thorn!" Hiccup said, his words muffled by the mattress. He pushed himself off the bed and slumped on the floor instead.

"It's okay. I can fix it. I might need a little help, though. Can you hold the mattress up for me, if I bend the slats back into place?"

"I can try." Hiccup was eager to please. He got to his feet and tried to lift the mattress. It took both of them to lift initially, but after that it was fairly easy to hold up alone. He leaned against the mattress, holding it up whilst trying to take some of the weight off his prosthetic, while Thorn sorted out the slats. After about a minute, it was done. They replaced the mattress and Hiccup lowered himself gingerly onto the bed.

"Are we going to stay up here?" he asked.

"Yeah. We can chat, or play games, or something."

"Cool. As long as we're not going anywhere…" Hiccup pulled off his prosthetic and settled down on the bed. Thorn stepped back.

"You know, you don't look weird with one leg shorter than the other. It suits you."

"Great. Being a cripple suits me." Thorn glared at him.

"Don't use that word. It's so demeaning and insulting. That's not you."

"Fine. Disabled looks good on me." Thorn looked like she was about to punch him.

"No! Don't use any of those words. They don't describe you. Can we just… not talk about it?" So they didn't. They sat for most of the time until dinner playing games, until Thorn's mum came upstairs carrying trays of food. An odd look crossed her face momentarily when she saw Hiccup's prosthetic lying there unattached, but then she smiled.

"Thought you guys would prefer to eat up here."

"Thanks, mum." The pair of them started tucking in to the food. Once they had finished, Hiccup pulled Thorn in for a kiss.

"That was delicious," he said, meaning it. They spent the rest of the evening playing games, talking and occasionally kissing, until Stoick arrived to pick up Hiccup.

"Hiccup! Your father's here!" Thorn's mother yelled from downstairs. Hiccup reattached his leg and Thorn helped him down the stairs and to the car.

"Bye," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for helping him, Thorn," said Stoick.

"That's okay. But I've convinced him to get a pair of crutches the next time he goes to the hospital, so soon he'll be much more independent."

"Thank you," Stoick said again, relief echoing in every syllable. The car revved and they drove off, Thorn watching it until it drove out of sight.

On Friday afternoon Thorn got a text from Hiccup, the first she'd received in weeks.  
_Physio done, got some crutches so hope you're happy.  
Great! We'll go find Toothless on Monday. _

When Monday morning arrived, Thorn left home late. She'd meant to leave early to meet Hiccup, but she'd overslept. It was all going wrong. She half ran towards school, speeding up as she saw Hiccup's car turn into the parking lot. She reached his car just as he was getting out, and together they walked into the school. Thorn cast a sidelong glance at Hiccup, who was using the crutches to support most of his weight when he walked on his prosthetic.

"At least now I don't have to carry you round everywhere," she commented.

"I guess, but now I stand out even more than I did before!" Hiccup protested. Nevertheless, they made their slow progress to their form room for registration. After registration, they went to their first lesson- Chemistry. During break they formulated a plan to find Toothless.

"Okay, do you know what year he's in?" Thorn asked.

"First year I guess…" Hiccup replied. "We were in the middle of a fire! Do you think it was the first thing that came to mind?"

"Well… what does he look like, then?"

"Small, pale green eyes, black hair, dresses like a goth?"

"Right, then. At lunch we can search for him. Happy?"

"Very," Hiccup replied, moving with her towards their next lessons. That morning was triple science, so after break they had Physics and Biology. In Biology, they made necklaces containing their DNA. When they were finished, Hiccup handed his necklace to Thorn.

"Take this. That way, wherever we are, we can always carry a bit of the other with us." Thorn slipped it over her neck, and handed hers to Hiccup who did likewise.

For them both, the minutes seemed to drag on and on. Time seemed to have slowed to a crawl. Finally, the bell rang for lunch. Thorn and Hiccup were first out the door. They gathered their things and quickly went to the canteen to eat their lunches. While they were eating they surveyed the rest of the dining area, looking for any sign of Toothless.

"He's probably either outside or in his form room," Hiccup said between mouthfuls. As soon as they had swallowed the last bite of food, they left the canteen and went hunting in the form rooms. No luck there, so they went outside and split up.

"Keep your phone on. If I find him, I'll phone you and bring him over." Thorn walked off to the far end of the field, leaving Hiccup to search the other half.

About halfway along the edge of the field, there were a cluster of trees that students could sit under for some shade. This was where Thorn found Toothless and his gang. They were laughing, and playing some sort of card game involving lots of violent slapping of cards. Thorn cleared her throat.

"Um, Toothless?" The group fell silent, and all eyes turned to her.

"Yeth?" Toothless asked.

"Hiccup wants to see you. Can you come with me?"

"Hiccup? You mean the guy who thaved me from the fire?" His voice was disbelieving.

"The very same. Now, are you coming or not?"

"Of course!" Thorn pulled out her phone and called Hiccup, who said he would wait by the science block. She led Toothless towards the science block, and as soon as he caught sight of Hiccup he broke into a fast sprint. Thorn struggled to keep up with the small boy. Hiccup heard the pounding of feet and turned around. Toothless got closer, slowing and staring more and more as he did so. Eventually he stopped about three metres from Hiccup.

"Hiccup?" he asked tentatively.

"That's me. Hey, Toothless. Are you okay?" His voice sounded concerned.

"Fine. You don't look tho good though. Did all thith happen becauthe you went back to thave me?" he asked.

"Yeah. I played the hero, but I wasn't really rewarded for it. I'm just glad you're okay. If anything had happened to you, I would have lost my leg and got burned for nothing."

"Oh man," Toothless said, noticing his prosthetic for the first time. "I tho owe you one. Ith there anything I can do to help?"

"You could be my friend. I think that would be enough to just call it quits. How about it?"

"Courthe I'll be your friend- you thaved my life. But I thtill owe you favours. Don't try and thtop me." At this, he stepped forward and pulled Hiccup into a hug. Hiccup hugged awkwardly back, the crutches still on his arms.

"Thank you, Hiccup."

"That's okay. I couldn't just leave you in there, could I?"

"But you'd thtill be in one piece if you had." Toothless pointed out the obvious truth.

"What's my leg when compared with your life? I was never going to be a great runner or sportsman anyway. You don't need two legs to saw a bit of wood or bend a bit of metal." The two of them parted, and Toothless gave a nod before walking away. Hiccup watched his departing back and sighed.

"Why can't all our classmates be like that? See that I was brave and that I'm not a hiccup." He swung round to face Thorn and they both moved away.

"I don't think you're a hiccup," she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. She didn't care if anybody saw.

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**The plot will start to move along again soon, I promise. And I can confirm that Astrid will be making her appearance in the next chapter.**

**Until then, why don't you read my collaboration with LesserWraith? The link's here: s/9614735/1/Anything-for-Life . Alternately, you can visit my profile for a link.**

**Absi B**


	8. Stranger Danger

**Wow. It's been such a long time. I am really sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I have now got a new chapter! **

**Enjoy!**

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Stranger Danger

Even though it was only the second week of school, and Thorn thought she'd had enough surprises to last her the whole year, there were more in store.

"So, what are you going to do for your sixteenth?" Thorn asked her self-proclaimed boyfriend. Frankly, she had never met someone so awkward, yet so smart… and so brave.

"Party somewhere, I guess. Not that I have many friends to invite," he replied with a small smile.

" Are you going to be up and about by then?"

"Should be." Hiccup had been working hard with his physiotherapy, in the hope that soon he would be able to get rid of his crutches altogether. Already he could walk ten paces fairly normally. Slowly he was getting back to normal. Well, as normal as you can be when you only have one leg and one friend. The teacher walked into the room, interrupting his reverie.

Thirty pairs of eyes fixed on the girl walking behind the teacher. The girl had pale blonde hair pulled up into a plait, from which hair was already beginning to escape. She wore a short sleeved striped blue shirt, and a short brown skirt with green leggings. Her shoes were brown and bulky- suited more to the hills and mountains than to a school. All the boys stared. And stared some more. Finally the teacher managed to wrench their attention back for a few moments.

"Class, this is Astrid. I know that last year we welcomed Hiccup to the class (at this she gestured at Hiccup for the benefit of Astrid), and I know that this year we can do an even better job of welcoming Astrid. Would you like to say a few words about yourself, Astrid?"

"Okay. Well, I'm Astrid, obviously, and I lived in America before I came here." Her American accent was distinct, and beautiful to the ears of everyone in the class.

"My hobbies are mountaineering and martial arts, I really love sports and my favourite colour is blue." The difference between Hiccup and Astrid was startling. Whereas Hiccup had been incredibly shy at the start of his first year, Astrid was calm and confident. She was used to standing up in front of crowds. Used to being noticed. She glanced at Hiccup, seeing the empty seat next to him, and made her way over to sit there.

"Astrid!" A chorus of boys' voices rang out desperately, all trying to grab the nearest empty seat and place it next to them. Clearly, they did not know that Astrid was not interested in such petty boys who only wanted to talk to her because she was attractive.

"There's a spare seat next to me, Astrid!"

"Come sit over here, Astrid!" She ignored all of them, and went to sit by Hiccup. He had been the only boy not interested in offering her a seat. Quickly looking him over, she looked to the side and spoke quietly from the corner of her mouth.

"Hey. Are they always like that? By the way, what happened to your leg?" she asked. Hiccup began to explain, but the teacher looked in their direction and he said hurriedly, "Tell you later." When the end of registration arrived Astrid stood up with Hiccup, and even offered to carry his bag for him. Thorn fumed silently behind him.

"It's okay, I can carry it on my own now, but thanks for the offer."

"So, are you going to tell me the rest of your story?" she asked. Casting a quick glance back at Thorn, he started to make his way towards their first class- Technology. He sighed, then resumed his story.

"Okay. Back to the fire. I'd just gotten Toothless out of the toilet cubicle, and we were going for the exit. I figured we'd never make it if we walked, but then Toothless jogged my memory about the go kart. We got in that, but it was already too late. I drove the kart into some debris, and… that's all I remember before blacking out. From what everybody else has said, my clothes were burned and I'd whacked my head somewhere along the line. They took me to the hospital, where they patched up my burns and my head, and they tried to save my leg, but it was too badly damaged. When I woke up they told me it was gone. They said that it had been broken and burned, and if they'd set it, it would have probably never healed properly anyway. Getting rid of my leg was really the only viable option they had left."

"So, let me get this straight. You went deeper into a burning building to save a boy you'd never met, you lost your leg and got scarred for life and you don't even care?"

"Why should I care? Like I told Toothless, I was never going to be a great runner or sportsman, and you don't need two legs to saw some wood or bend some metal. I was never going to be winning any beauty contests either. In the whole scheme of things, this isn't really that terrible."

His selflessness shocked Astrid. Everybody else she knew was obsessed with the latest fashions, looking good and succeeding in sports so they could become famous. And here was a boy who couldn't care less about them?

Astrid wanted to know more.

"Did you win any awards for it? Get in the newspaper?" she asked eagerly.

"I didn't want to. Toothless entered me for a Blue Peter Gold badge, and my dad wanted me to do interviews and have pictures taken. I didn't even want Thorn to see me- what chance did the media have?"

"Wow. You are so strange."

"Welcome to our world," Thorn broke in with a smile. The three of them walked slowly to the workshop, which had been rebuilt over the summer. When they reached the workshop, Hiccup invited Astrid to sit with them.

"Thanks, but I'd rather get to know some of the other class members," Astrid replied, giving them a small wave before making her way over to join Snotlout and his gang. A few minutes later the teacher walked in and addressed the class. A spaceship landing in the middle of the workshop would not have distracted the boys from Astrid, so what chance did Mr Woods have?

"Welcome back class. This year we will be continuing with our projects we started last year, seeing as certain events resulted in all your work being lost." A few groans could be heard, but mostly sighs of relief, since all they had to do was exactly what they had already done once before.

"There's cardboard, scissors and tape on the front table, I'd like you to make a rough model of your final design for your speaker." Everyone craned their necks to try and see what was available on the desk.

Each individual's desired materials picked out, there was a rush to get to the front desk in order to nab the ones they wanted, and in the process Hiccup's chair got knocked over, its occupant still seated upon it. Hiccup fell to the ground, cracking his head on the cold concrete. Most of the class just laughed, but Thorn and Astrid knelt down beside him, trying to see if he was all right.

Hiccup opened his eyes, only to be blinded by a searing heat and thick grey smoke. He cried out and scrambled to his feet, looking around him. Smoke and flames were everywhere. The flames were licking up a wall; more were trying to worm their way underneath a sooty blue door.

The smoke billowed all around him, allowing him only a tiny field of vision and making his eyes water. The smoke was suffocating him. He had to get out, as fast as possible. Staggering around, his blurry vision picked out a strange shape in the corner.

Thinking it could be a person, someone willing to help him get out of this mess, Hiccup moved slowly towards it, arms outstretched. In the corner of his mind, the thought that he looked a bit like a mummy dimly registered. Right now, it didn't seem to matter what he looked like, only that he escaped as quickly as possible. Moving closer, he saw wheels and a frame. His heart sank, but then joy filled his heart as he realised what the wheels and frame constituted. This is how I'm going to escape, he thought. But when he tried to approach the vehicle, his hand passed right through. "No!" he yelled, frantically trying to grasp one of the metal bars in front of him. He gestured so violently that he fell forwards, his whole torso disappearing into the illusion. Trying again and again, hoping that the first time it had been a mistake, he finally gave up.

Hiccup rolled over onto his back, and noticed that a light had emerged from the darkness. That must be the way out! He tried to sprint for the exit, but found he could only achieve a limping, shambling jog. Before he could make it to the white light, his legs shot out from underneath him and all he knew was blackness.

Meanwhile, Thorn and Astrid watched Hiccup as he cried out and stood up.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled. Both of them rushed to help, but he started to randomly stagger around, planting his prosthetic firmly on Thorn's foot.

"Ow! Why did I tell him to put nails in it to give him better grip?" she said angrily. They both stepped back, following him as he made for the door. He made it to the corridor, stopping and staring in wonder at something only he seemed to be able to see. Eventually he started to run, stumbling and limping along the corridor.

Thorn and Astrid followed him closely, when suddenly Hiccup fell and lay still on the floor. They both ran to him, Astrid slightly angering Thorn by rolling him over and shaking him.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! Come on, please wake up. Please!" Hiccup blearily opened his eyes, and jumped as he saw Astrid's face floating in his field of vision.

"Astrid! Whoa… where… what… what happened?" he asked, shocked at her face's proximity to his own. Astrid helping him to sit up.

"Uh, I was kinda hoping you would be able to tell me," she replied, seemingly forgetting about Thorn. Hiccup screwed up his face, trying to remember.

"There was… fire? And… I saw a light. I ran at it. But… I fell." Looking around, he added, "This is where I crashed the kart in the fire last year. I think… I think I might have been reliving it." Hiccup looked up towards Astrid, his eyes wide with fear. Astrid clicked her fingers.

"It must have been brought on when you hit your head on the floor," she theorized. "Do you think you can stand?" she asked.

"Yeah," Hiccup replied achingly, and Astrid lifted him effortlessly to his feet. She helped him back into the classroom, Thorn following behind with a face like thunder. Who was this girl, coming in here and trying to muscle in on their friendship? When they entered the classroom again, all eyes turned to Hiccup. Then, realising they were all staring, they turned their eyes back to their work, whispering amongst themselves. Mr Woods rushed over.

"Hiccup, are you okay?" he asked. "You gave us quite a scare, yelling and running around like that."

"I'm fine." His tone made it sound like he was anything but. "I'll get back to my work; that should help me take my mind off things." Pushing off Astrid, he walked as normally as he was able to his desk and sat down. A moment later, Thorn sat down heavily beside him. Putting her arm around his shoulders, she asked, "Can I help with your work?"

"If you like. Can you go and get some blocks of MDF, a hacksaw, some wood glue and some sandpaper from the store cupboard? Thanks." Thorn obediently retrieved the materials, and soon the pair of them were covered in shavings. Hiccup marked off the wood and glued the pieces of the trebuchet together, while Thorn stood and sawed all the pieces to the required length.

"I'm not very good at sawing in straight lines," she said with a giggle. Glancing up, she noticed that Hiccup was looking at her, a faint smile on his face. Not for the first time, she realised why she had liked him from the moment he had walked in the door of the classroom, ignoring all the little voices inside her head.

"Never mind. That's why I've got the sandpaper- if you screw up, I can fix it."

By the end of the lesson the trebuchet frame was almost complete, so all that was left to do was the mechanism and the final touches to the frame. Hiccup and Thorn made their way to the form room, Hiccup trying to walk normally as far as he could before using his crutches. When they arrived, Thorn pushed open the door only to be bowled over by an enthusiastic Fishlegs.

"Hiccup! Come and join us, pal," Fishlegs said, pulling him over towards the large group of boys who dominated the far corner of the room. Hiccup cast a look towards Thorn that said,_help me, I'm about to get killed_! When he got there, there were no taunts or mocking comments, only friendly remarks and slaps on the back. The group parted to reveal Astrid standing there. She walked over to him, a smile on her face.

"They won't bully you anymore. I sort of, 'bent them to my will'. We're all friends now," she whispered.

"Even Thorn?" Hiccup asked hopefully.

"No, just you and Snotlout and his gang. How do you like _that_?" she said, looking proud of herself.

"Oh… uh, great! Thanks, Astrid." Snotlout seemed to notice Hiccup for the first time.

"Hey! You know, we all think you're the coolest guy in our year. How many other guys can make themselves a new leg? How many other guys in our year have needed to?"

"Um… thanks? I'm glad you like it."

"So, you doing anything for your sixteenth?" Snotlout asked.

"Probably a party at my house or something. It won't be anything major."

"Cool! Can we come? It'll be the best bash in ages!"

"Yeah, sure," Hiccup sighed, moving back to Thorn.

"I think my party's going to be bigger than I anticipated," he commented, anxiety written all over his face. "I've just invited a gang of rowdy boys to my house. It's going to be carnage."

"You better get working so you'll be able to run away. Come on, let's get out of here. You can practise walking on the way to History." She turned to leave, but Hiccup took a faltering step forward and placed his hand on her shoulder, halting her.

"Thorn? About what happened in the workshop… please, don't tell my dad, or your parents. I don't want them to worry about me even more."

"Yeah, whatever. Fine. Come on!" Thorn sounded different, like she was angry or annoyed. Spinning on her heel, she set off at a brisk pace, so that Hiccup had to jog to keep up. After about thirty seconds he could no longer keep up. Hiccup was perplexed; Thorn was never usually like this. She would always walk slowly, and was never impatient with him.

"Thorn!" he panted. "Slow down! I can't walk as fast as you!" Thorn paused, but only for long enough for Hiccup to hop a little closer, then she set off again at a marginally slower pace than before. Hiccup was desperate to catch up, so he tried sprinting as fast as he was able. Unfortunately, that was not very fast, and quickly he could no longer sprint. In a last ditch effort to stop Thorn, he threw himself to the floor, aiming for her legs. He slid along the corridor and grabbed her legs tightly, causing her to fall to the floor with him.

"Hiccup! What are you doing?" Thorn asked angrily. Hiccup held up a finger while he caught his breath.

"Why… are you walking… so fast? You know… I can't keep up… what's the matter… with you?" Hiccup said in between breaths. Thorn freed her legs and stood up, holding her hand out to help up Hiccup. Unlike Astrid, who seemed to possess a large amount of strength in such a compact package, Thorn had difficulty hauling the slim boy to his feet.

"You know, I think I spend more time with my face on the floor than I do anywhere else," Hiccup joked. Putting on a more serious expression, he asked, "Is this about Astrid?"

"No, I just… I just got angry for a second. That's all. Come on, we should get to History. This time Thorn walked slowly so Hiccup could walk by her side.

"I think I just undid all my hard work," Hiccup said, wincing. "I don't think I could take two steps normally anymore." Thorn glanced sideways, and noticed that it was true; Hiccup had indeed gone right back to where he had started. He relied heavily on his crutches, hopping more than walking. Thorn's face crumpled as she realised that it had been her fault he had gone to such lengths to catch up with her. Without any warning, she pressed herself into a corner and started to sob. Hiccup continued for a few paces before realising Thorn was no longer by his side.

"Thorn?" he asked, hearing a loud sob in reply. He found her and wrapped his arms around her.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"It was my fault!" she said, venom in her voice.

"What was?" Hiccup was obviously confused.

"That you've gone back to the beginning with your walking. I was angry at you, at Astrid. Yes, I lied. I was angry at Astrid," she said, seeing Hiccup's frowning face. "I walked fast to get away from you, I didn't think you'd try to run and dive like that."

"You obviously don't know me then. I'd do anything for you. I'll do anything to keep you. It doesn't matter about me; you're the only one that matters," he said, tenderly kissing her cheek; Thorn returned the kiss wholeheartedly. He turned around and started heading to their next class.

"Come on, or we'll be late! Well, even later than we are already!" Thorn grinned, and they both walked as fast as they could to their next lesson.

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**The next update may be quite a long time in coming too, because I have no idea what to write next...**


	9. Flashbacks

**Okay... It's been absolutely ages since I last updated, but I have really had no idea what to write. So, it's a bit shorter than usual, but I hope you enjoy it and I'd like to hear what you think, be it good or bad.**

**Enjoy!**

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Flashbacks

Two days later, Hiccup and Thorn were once again making their way into the workshop, chatting animatedly about the catapult. Hiccup glanced up at the room, with its new desks and chairs, and then staggered to a halt. Thorn kept walking, still unaware that Hiccup was no longer by her side. When she finally realised, she spun round to find him in the midst of another flashback.

Hiccup stood in the middle of the smoky classroom, while everyone else cowered in the corner. He saw Mr Woods saying something to the others, but he couldn't hear any words. Suddenly the scenery flashed, and the group of people disappeared, to be replaced by a dirty toilet door. Now there was a soundtrack to his nightmare. A young voice yelled over and over again, "I'm here! Help me!" Hiccup clapped his hands over his ears, trying to drown out the noise, but nothing could stop the unbearably loud voice worming its way past his hands and into his brain.

"Stop! I'm coming!" he yelled. Everyone in the class turned to look at him, and Astrid ran up to him and shook his shoulders violently.

The building felt like it was about to fall on Hiccup's head. He was being shaken; it was like being in the midst of a powerful earthquake. Grey filled his vision, and his legs felt rooted to the spot. He was stuck in the middle of this nightmare, unable to move and unable to escape. The only things that he could move were his arms, and he did so, twisting and slapping them violently around in all directions. His eyes roved, but saw nothing but grey.

As he swung his arms more and more, he became aware of a strong force pushing them down against his sides. Now he couldn't move his arms either!

Astrid tried to hold Hiccup's arms down, but in his hallucinating state he was far stronger than she, probably due to desperation. Her face was red from where his flailing hands had slapped her and from the shock of seeing her friend slowly losing his mind like this. Thorn was behind her, her face red and tears just starting to flow.

"Astrid... what's happening?" Her words were now interspersed with the occasional sob.

"I... I don't know. Hiccup's the only one who knows what's really going on here, and he's... like this..." She glanced round at Thorn, their shocked and scared expressions perfectly mirroring each other's. Suddenly Hiccup began to thrash even more violently, protesting against Astrid's restraining hands even more.

"Let him go." The commanding tone in Thorn's voice was unmistakeable.

"But... if I do, he might..." Neither of them wanted to say it, but it was clear in both their minds.

Painfully aware that the whole class had now fallen silent and were watching intently,Thorn moved closer to Astrid and tried pulling her arms from his, but to no avail. She was far stronger. Thorn hissed, "Astrid. Let go. Now." There was venom in her words, but Astrid's hands still remained firmly on Hiccup's arms.

"Then you leave me no choice," she whispered, locking gazes with Astrid. Quick as lightning, she pulled back her hand, which was now balled into a fist, and sent a jab straight into the jaw of the hallucinating Hiccup.

The world went from a suffocating grey to a brilliant white, bursting with stars. His vision blurred and tilted crazily, then turned to an all-encompassing black. His eyes and body went numb, quickly followed by his consciousness.

The rest of the class watched as Hiccup was felled by Thorn's short but powerful punch. As he tumbled backwards, his eyes rolled back into his head, which cracked sickeningly against the floor. Thorn and Astrid both knelt down, one either side of his prone form. Angrily, Astrid tried to shove Thorn away, to make her move and just leave her alone.

"Why? Why did you do that?" she muttered, trying to keep her voice low in the thick silence that surrounded them.

"Don't try and turn me into the scapegoat. It was all your fault. If you'd let go when I asked you to he might not be like this right now," she whispered back angrily, gesturing at Hiccup, who was just beginning to murmur, his eyes flickering back and forth behind closed lids.

"Yeah, but if I had let go, who knows what might have happened?" It seemed as if both girls were fighting hard to get their own views accepted, and neither was willing to concede that the other was right.

Hiccup moaned, slightly louder this time, but his eyes remained closed. Mr Woods at last came closer, looking on worriedly.

Thorn, noticing his proximity, said,"Sir, I think it would be best if we got Hiccup to the medical room." He nodded his head immediately, and the two girls rushed to pick him up, almost fighting one another for control over the limp form. Since he was still unresponsive, they hauled him to his feet and began to awkwardly drag him towards the door. On the way, Thorn picked up his crutches, which he'd discarded what seemed like an age ago when the flashback first began.

They made it out the door, both sighing with relief as they were now out of sight of the rest of the class. Thorn knew that as soon as lunch started, the story would be all over school, and she'd be the one painted as the villain.

Why wouldn't she? She was the one who punched Hiccup, who tried to pull Astrid away from him. Add to that the fact that she was one of the most unpopular kids in school. On the other hand, Astrid had only been here a week, and already she had half the school bowing down to her every command. Thorn knew that Astrid would be portrayed as the fearless hero, the one who tried to help Hiccup at his most vulnerable moment. How she held onto his arms, tried to get him out of it, tried to protect him.

As they reached the steps which would take them up to the main school building, Thorn and Astrid both walked up without any problems, but they both jerked to a halt suddenly, dragged down by Hiccup's dead weight between them.

"Huh?" Astrid said, looking round. She gave a gentle pull on his shoulder, but to no avail.

"Thorn. Ready? One, two, three." On three they both pulled upwards, but Hiccup still remained firmly on the bottom step.

"I can't see what's wrong here," Astrid said, signs of confusion beginning to appear on her face. Astrid's words sparked a thought in Thorn's brain, and she quickly began to unhook Hiccup's arm from around her shoulder.

"Hold him for a minute, will you?" Astrid readied herself for the extra weight, but it wasn't really necessary because her load was not greatly increased. Thorn jumped nimbly down the stairs, and bent down, seemingly examining Hiccup's legs.

"Ah," said Thorn, in a way that suggested that she had been right all along. She moved her hands towards the top of his prosthetic, and began to jiggle and pull the straps that secured it to his leg. After a few seconds, it came free, almost slipping from Thorn's grasp in the process.

"It was stuck under the lip of the step. I figured if I took it off, we wouldn't have the same problem again." Her tone was slightly victorious, but also scathing and mean. Thorn didn't like how Astrid thought she could just waltz in and take over everything. She didn't know anything. Thorn was the one who knew Hiccup inside out and back to front. Thorn was the one in a relationship with him. Astrid was just... a girl.

Hefting the length of wood and metal, she resumed her place at Hiccup's right hand side; this time, keeping hold of his limp arm was much more difficult, carrying a pair of crutches and his prosthetic. Ignoring Astrid's look which blatantly said _let me help_,she steeled her gaze and settled it on the wall opposite, pulling Hiccup up with her.

The two teens working completely separately from one another, it was an impressive feat for them to make it all the way down two long corridors to the medical room. Tumbling in through the door to the dark room, Hiccup almost slipped out of their grasps and onto the floor. Thorn fumbled for the light switch, and flicked it on, illuminating the room.

Inside, there was a single narrow bed, covered by a white paper sheet. Pillows and blankets were by its side, and a cupboard, presumably containing various medicines and bandages, was opposite. A wheelchair sat, nearly folded, at the end of the bed, and a small sink was behind the door. The room smelled faintly of antiseptic.

Seeing that their final destination was almost within touching distance, the girls put in an extra effort for the final few steps, and dropped Hiccup unceremoniously on the bed. Thorn sighed, them started to rearrange his limbs to make him more comfortable. Turning away from Astrid, she said, "Go and find someone. There's always someone in the office; why don't you start there?" Her tone was friendly, but her body was sending out clear messages- stay away.

Astrid left, closing the door rather more firmly than was necessary. Thorn didn't look up; she just continued to gently manoeuvre Hiccup's arms and legs onto the bed properly. As she lifted his shortened leg, he shifted uncomfortably and began to mutter again. Thorn quickly placed it gently on the bed, and turned to his head.

"Hiccup?" she asked tentatively. His only response was a flickering of eyes under his lids and another low murmur.

"Hey, you're safe now. You're with me. Thorn. Open your eyes." Her gentle, encouraging tone drew a few coherent words from the mouth of the boy.

"Thorn... Ow... my head..." He shifted, and Thorn caught a glimpse of the welt just beginning to form on the back of Hiccup's head.

_I did that_, she thought. _I tried to help him, but all that happened was that he got hurt even more. This is my fault. All of it. I can't let myself hurt him any more, after what he's been through._ A solitary tear falling from her eye, she kissed him tenderly on the lips for a few seconds, then opened the door and walked out. She kept walking, out the front door and then gate of the school; only then did she let herself collapse onto a bench and sob, alone and broken.

* * *

**A/N: Now I've got an idea in my head, I should be updating much faster. Watch this space!**


	10. Coming Back Around

Coming Back Around

Hiccup awoke fully for the first time just as Astrid was entering the room. He blinked, and said dazedly, "Thorn?" Astrid moved over to his side.

"No. Astrid." She gently lifted his head with her hands, and tried pressing softly against the damaged area. Hiccup responded by jerking his head away and trying to bat her hands off him.

"There'll be someone along in a minute to get you cleaned up," Astrid said softly, aware that with consciousness probably came a pounding headache.

"Thorn?" Hiccup asked again, his face full of confusion.

"No. Do you know where she's gone? She was here when I left…" At that point, the teacher came in. Seeing Hiccup lying on the bed, clearly in some discomfort, she sighed.

"What happened here?" she asked, in a tone that suggested she'd much rather be somewhere else right now. Perhaps watching some TV show on her computer instead of working. Who knows what goes on behind the locked doors of teacher's offices?

Hiccup tried to roll over on his side, and in doing so revealed his missing foot. The teacher gasped, a look of astonishment crossing her face. She rushed over and reached for his leg. When she grasped it, Hiccup winced sharply.

"Not that. My leg's an old story. I fell over and bumped my head. And my jaw hurts too…" His fluent sentences meant that he was regaining the full use of his senses once more.

"Um… okay… um… right…" The teacher was clearly flustered. Stopping all motion for a minute, she finally moved towards Hiccup's head, and began to try and examine the wound. Each time the teacher pressed, Hiccup winced again.

"How far did you fall?" she asked him. Hiccup looked to Astrid for an answer.

"He fell backwards, from standing upright to the floor," she supplied efficiently and helpfully. The teacher had a faint look of further questioning on her face, but she let it slide. Returning to her examination, she sighed once more.

"Well, there's not really much I can do for you other than give you an ice pack and let you stay here awhile. I'll get you one, and then you can leave when you're ready. Just come to my office and let me know." Her friendly tone was not reflected in her face, which showed exhaustion and irritation. She pulled an ice pack out of the cupboard, and wrapped it in a soft towel. Handing it to Astrid, she couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

Astrid moved to take the place of the teacher, pulling up a chair as she did so. She lifted the ice pack, and Hiccup obediently turned his head so that she could ice the injury. When the cool pack touched the sore spot, Hiccup sighed with evident relief. But he couldn't remain still for long. After a few minutes, he was shifting and trying to turn back towards Astrid, who had to keep pushing him gently back away from him. Finally, Astrid relented and handed Hiccup the ice pack. He rolled over, and turned his eyes to face hers.

In the few minutes that his face had been turned towards the wall, Hiccup's emotions had been changing every few seconds. First, there had been pain- he had a gargantuan headache, and his jaw throbbed too. Next, confusion as he tried to work out where he was and who was there with him. Then realisation, as he finally remembered what had happened. Finally… fear. He didn't want to remember the events that had just passed, but he knew he had to face up to them in order to see the truth.

What Astrid saw was a look of fear, and just from the first glance fear was struck into her heart also. It took her a few seconds to realise what the fear might have been about, before her suspicions were confirmed by Hiccup's next words.

"It happened again. The flashback. I was there again. In the workshop." Astrid reached up and gently grasped his free hand, Hiccup gripping back painfully firmly, as if he was clinging on to his sanity.

"Just tell me what you remember, so I can try to help." Astrid nodded, trying to encourage him further. Hiccup sighed, then screwed up his eyes and tried to recall every detail for her.

"I was back in the fire. Everything was grey, and I could hear a voice, yelling something. I… I can't remember what it said. I couldn't move, couldn't see. I was feeling around with my arms, but then the whole room started shaking and my arms were stuck to my sides… after that… I don't know. I think that was about it. It was much shorter than the first one." His speech over, Hiccup slumped tiredly on the bed, as if remembering had taken all of his remaining energy from his body.

"When did it start to happen?"

"I don't know, right away I guess. I took about three steps into the room and I started imagining the fire again." His face was full of worry. "I must be going mad."

Astrid threw him a sharp look, but her expression quickly softened. "No, you're perfectly sane. Do you think that any other normal person could go through what you have and come out of the other side completely free from any side- effects?" Sensing that Hiccup was about to disagree with her completely, she hastily continued before he could say a word. "And actually, I think that all your hallucinations and flashbacks are a good thing. It's your brain trying to process what happened; much better than you just blanking everything out. It must be the sight of the workshop that sets off your flashbacks, too." She sighed.

"Listen. You've suffered more in sixteen years than most people do in a lifetime, and it's changed you. Physically and mentally. We're all shaped by the people we meet, the events that occur, and the hardships we endure throughout our lives. You've had more hardships so far, but eventually it's going to even out. And all of the things you think are bad when they happen might be good for you later in life. Just because you've had two flashbacks to a day when your life turned around doesn't make you crazy. Doing that stuff was crazy, sure, but it was completely selfless and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. You should be proud. Proud that you did what nobody else would. Even all the sporty, popular kids chickened out when it mattered most. And yeah, you've got scars, but that just proves you're truthful and you put others before yourself in _any _situation." As she spoke, Astrid felt a surge of emotion and care for the boy who had risked everything to save a perfect stranger.

No words were said in that room for a long while after that. Astrid just sat, silently watching Hiccup tend to his wounds. They both found that the silence held more wisdom than any number of words that could pass between them. And even though neither spoke, there was a deeper communication in the room; they took comfort in one another just being there.

They sat for so long that soon the rest of the school began to swarm out of their classrooms to move to their next lesson, and, later, outside for the end of the school day.

When they could hear the rush dying down, Astrid took the now warm ice pack from Hiccup and placed it in the sink while he re-attached his prosthetic. There was now a sizeable lump on the back of his head, but most of the headache had dissipated. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he threaded his arms through his crutches (helpfully held by Astrid) and shakily got to his feet. Staggering a little, Astrid moved quickly forward to steady him, and she continued to scrutinize him carefully as he made his slow progress out of the door and down the corridor.

"Is your dad waiting to pick you up?" she asked.

Hiccup laughed, a short bark. "Well, I don't suppose he'd make me walk home." Moving more confidently, he quickly distanced himself from her, settling into a rhythm and swinging along towards the door, where she could see the outline of his father waiting. She slowed, eventually coming to a stop in the middle of the corridor.

"You're welcome," she said sarcastically to his departing back. Why had his mood changed so quickly?

Hiccup left the school and walked with his father to the car. Just as he was getting in, he noticed a sliver of bright orange next to a bench outside the school. The day- glow colour reminded him of Thorn, who had been strangely absent for most of the afternoon. The weird thing was, he could have sworn that she was there at some point, but that thought was dismissed as a result of the knock to the head he took.

Instead, he sent her a quick text.  
_Hey, where were you this afternoon? I missed you._

A reply came back almost instantly.  
_Go away. You don't want to talk to me._

Stoick started the car, and reversed out of the parking space. He turned left to exit the car park, and as the car swung right onto the busy road just outside, Hiccup glanced back at where he had seen the flash of orange. To his surprise, he saw a girl with messy black hair staring back at him, her expression unreadable at this distance. Quickly he pulled out his phone again.

_Why are you sitting on the bench? And of course I want to talk to you. Why wouldn't I?_

This time, there was no reply.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry for yet another short chapter, but this was more to move the plot along. Hopefully they'll get a bit longer soon! **


	11. Portraits

Portraits

Thorn sat, staring at her phone's screen. People jostled and walked all around her, but she was oblivious to them. The final three words of Hiccup's text had her full attention, and they would keep it until she had worked out why he had put them there.

Why? That was the question of the day. Why did Hiccup have another flashback? Why did Astrid not let go of Hiccup when she asked her to? Why did Hiccup still want to talk to her? The answers to the first two questions were not even being considered right now; Thorn's only concern was working out why he still wanted to talk to her.

She hadn't done anything right so far. So far this year, she'd insulted him, put his recovery back to the beginning, punched him and left him when he needed her. All of these things were, in Thorn's opinion, heinous enough on their own to warrant him hating her, but he still didn't. There was definitely something weird going through Hiccup's brain, something that didn't see all of the horrible things.

Deciding that the answer wasn't going to come sitting on a bench, she stood up and began to walk home. She knew that this conversation was something they would need to have face to face; sending texts wasn't enough. But Thorn couldn't face Hiccup tonight. She meandered home, taking much longer than usual, and when she finally made it to her house she ran up to her room and resumed staring at her screen. At least in the solitude of her own bedroom, nobody would see the sadness and cluelessness tearing at her face.

Hiccup sat silently in the car as his father skilfully negotiated the narrow streets. He didn't have anything to say, nor did he want to; since his mother died, the two of them had become closer, but were still unwilling to share confidences. It was almost like they were too proud, too manly to admit that their emotions were ripping them up inside to each other.

As he sat, he stared at the floor, then at his leg, then, the recent memories of the past day and week threatening to overwhelm him, at the grim grey tarmac of the road ahead. It was almost like looking into his future, seeing what lay ahead for him, but seeing only a dull future, one without promise. Right now, all that Hiccup _did _see for his future was dull and grey. Dull, because there was nothing for him to look forward to, even in the near future. He couldn't walk three steps into the workshop without going back to the fire, meaning any chance of regaining a life of invention and creativity was basically ruined. Thorn didn't want to talk to him, for reasons as yet unknown; his only friend in the world not wanting his company. He couldn't walk three steps any more, not without help. Right now, all that Hiccup saw of his life and future was one big mess.

When they pulled up outside their house, Hiccup clambered out of the car without a word or allowance of help. He swung over to the front door, inserting his own key and pushing open the door. Inside, he left his shoe on because the lack of heating was turning the house into a fridge and made his slow progress up the stairs and to his bedroom. It was small and in need of redecorating, but it was full of character and life.

On the walls were plenty of shelves, many of which were heaving with books or inventions. His desk was small and natural wood, not that anybody would be able to tell- drawings, sketches, diagrams and bits of wood, metal and plastic almost completely covered it. His bed was low to the ground, and sagging slightly in the middle from repeated use as a seat. The only pieces of paper that adorned the walls were some photos and diagrams of recent projects, and a periodic table Thorn had given him to try and make him like Chemistry more than Technology. A set of pencils and technical drawing tools took pride of place on the floor, sitting on top of a tower of school books, well away from any possibly damaging items. On his desk were more scattered pencils, and a scratched and ancient fountain pen that was Hiccup's pride and joy. It wasn't new or shiny, but he had used it for as long as he could remember and the nib was well worn to his writing style. He moved over to the stool in front of his desk and sat down, leaning back to get his pencils. Propping his crutches on the edge of the desk and pulling off his prosthetic, he readied his pencil over the paper. It hovered there for a long moment, the wielder unsure about what to draw. But then the pencil fell to the paper and began to sketch.

Hiccup started by drawing an upside- down egg shape, before filling in the lines and features that would turn it into Thorn's face. He sat at his desk for hours, ignoring his father's yells calling him down to dinner, trying to get the drawing perfect. He thought that maybe the drawing would be able to bring the two of them closer once more, and maybe Thorn would want to talk to him again. He paused, and held up his work to scrutinise it. The eyes were not completely symmetrical, and he hadn't quite captured the frizzy mass of hair as well as he might have wanted to, but he knew that Thorn would ignore all that.

Scrawling his signature at the bottom, he re- attached his leg and got to his feet, wincing slightly as the prosthetic bore some of his weight. Leaving the crutches leaning against the desk, he stepped out from behind the stool and took a deep breath before taking a short step towards the door. A normal step followed, then another quick step. Limping heavily, Hiccup made it the short distance to his door, but even that short distance had caused his face to wrinkle in pain and a light sweat to break out on his brow.

But he wasn't satisfied yet. Hiccup walked back and forth twice more before he had convinced himself that was the minimum amount. He knew that this was precisely what the doctors had told him not to do, they'd said to take it easy and don't try and walk too far, but he wanted Thorn to see him walk normally into school sooner rather than later. At the rate he was going so far, they'd be into their last year before he'd be able to walk normally once more, and Hiccup knew that he was never patient.

Hiccup finished his walking practice for the day and sat down heavily on his bed, his leg throbbing and his palms clammy. He smiled, glad of the pain and sweat; it told him he was doing well. If he kept pushing himself, eventually he'd get stronger and would be able to walk faster and for longer. Hearing another yell from his father, Hiccup grabbed his crutches (stairs were a little past his capabilities right now and he didn't want his father to know what he had been doing) and made his way downstairs, for a now very cold and congealed meal.

Thorn pushed her food around the plate, not wanting to eat. Her mother looked on concernedly, but said nothing. Eventually she just gave up, excusing herself and escaping back upstairs, away from the omniscient gaze of her mother. Looking in the mirror, she could see her bleak expression and lack of any hope. Behind her reflection was a mirror image of a picture standing on her desk. It had been carefully framed and placed so that anybody's attention was immediately drawn to it.

The picture was of Hiccup and Thorn, standing together in her bedroom. She'd used the timer setting on her camera to allow her time to get into position, her arm wrapping around Hiccup's shoulder and a big smile on her face. Hiccup's face was beaming also, but there was a trace of pain and suffering hidden behind the grin. Every time her eyes fell on the picture, she was reminded of the friendship they shared, and how much she loved him.

This time, a glance almost tore her heart in two, because she thought how he could never like her again, not after all of the things she'd done to him. The tears beginning to fall onto the beige carpet, she moved silently over to the picture and took it from its perch on her desk to her bed, where she lay, curled up into a ball. Sobbing silently, she stared at the picture for a long time, wondering how on earth she was going to face Hiccup in the morning.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know it's another short one but I'm really hoping the next chapter will be a bit lengthier. As to when I shall be updating, expect a short hiatus on all my stories as I have exams all this week and next week. But I will try and update as soon as I can. **

**In the meantime, I recommend Anything for Life (a collaboration between LesserWraith and I) and Crevice (by Lenle G) if you would like some good reading. **


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